Integral proteins of the extracellular matrix fibrils of Myxococcus xanthus

The extracellular matrix fibrils of Myxococcus xanthus are mediators of cell-cell cohesion and as such are required for the maintenance of the social lifestyle characteristic of these prokaryotes. The fibrils have also been implicated as factors involved in contact-mediated cell interactions and in signal exchange. The fibrils are extracellular carbohydrate structures with associated proteins. All of the major proteins associated with the fibrils react with monoclonal antibody 2105 and can be removed from the fibrils only by boiling with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and beta-mercaptoethanol. For consistency with their integral association with the fibrils, we have designated this class of proteins as integral fibrillar proteins class 1 (IFP-1). IFP-1 comprises five major proteins whose molecular sizes range from 66 to 14 kDa. All of the proteins in IFP-1 have been purified from isolated fibrils by electroelution after size separation on SDS-PAGE gels. Analysis of the purified proteins suggested that the forms with different molecular sizes result from the aggregation of a single small-molecular-size subunit. Fingerprint analysis and amino acid composition profiles confirmed the identity among the different members of IFP-1. The sequence of the 31 amino-terminal amino acids of the 31-kDa form of IFP-1 (IFP-1:31) was determined. There was no significant homology to other known protein sequences. During development there is a dramatic shift in the banding pattern of IFP-1 proteins without any apparent overall loss of total protein.